[OOC] Nocturnal Memoirs: An Urban-Fantasy Mafia Epic

[Little Bird]

After reconsideration and noting that they weren't taken, I've had Glyde established in 93rd Street, Yellow Brick, and Merryland. Feels a bit more organic for an outsider that's only been in the city for a few years.

[Estylwen]

@Little Bird That sounds great, in that case you're more than welcome to post the CS in the character tab then. :)

[Estylwen]

Vincenzo "Vincent" Accardo

Vincenzo “Vincent” Accardo

Boss of the Thorned Roses | 31 | He/him | 6’2 | 161 lbs

Goal: To sow discord among the mafias. To become the most wealthiest mafia out there. To gain control of Nocturnia and make it his. To harness the unknown power source of Nocturnia for personal gain.

Secrets: Is secretly obsessed with the mafia scene in Nocturnia. Is also obsessed with Nocturnia's Gyfts. Prides himself in his collection of exotic Gyfts.

Fears: Having his source of wealth discovered and stolen. Anything happening to his collection of exotic Gyfts.

History: Vincent grew up in the mafia business. It was his ruthlessness and cunning that caused him to become the Consigliere of the Rose Spinose Mafia (Thorned Roses Mafia). A drive-by shooting killed the Don, and as his sworn duty, Vincent took over as Mafia Boss.

Now, Vincent was always fascinated by the “Great City Behind the Wall” - Nocturnia. The media always stressed never getting near the city, saying some media lie about toxins in the air. But Vincent always knew there was something interesting about that city. The gunfire he overheard with his long-range listening devices. The snippets of conversations he gleaned from fuzzy frequencies. The mention of “gyfts”.

It caused Vincent to start intercepting all the correspodence leaving the city. It caused him to come across one particular letter one day, a small bottle attached to it. Let's just say that, after that day, and a few more miraculous events, Vincent left the outside world permanently. He bribed the aid organizations to smuggle him, his men, and his armory into the city. From there, he took control of White Pine and Laterdale. He also corresponded with this mysterious individual, learning more about the truth of Nocturnia. A truth many would kill for…

__________

Alliance: Mafia

District:

White Pine

White Pine is a mid-range downtown filled with offices, businesses, apartments, and art galleries. Most prominent of these skyscraper apartment completed is the Hundred And First, where Vincent's penthouse resides.

White Pine is a bit more pious than other parts of the city, complete with three seperate cathedrals. These cathedrals are well-known and marked for being ‘neutral territory’, where mafia members can come for safety or to negotiate peacefully. Vincent, being a Christian, upholds these safe places.

The Irish Pint is an old tavern that sells craft beer and comfort fare. Little do people know that in the basement and backrooms of this establishment is a highly lucrative drug operation.

Laterdale

Laterdale, a piece of the heart of Nocturnia, is known exceptionally well for its entertainment. Laterdale is filled with theatres, broadway, opera houses, night clubs, bars, and a lively night scene.

Most notably is the Laterdale Jazz Bar, where all classes of society come to mingle in the smoky halls and listen to classy New York-inspired jazz. Among the dreamers the bar attracts, the Laterdale Jazz Bar is no stranger to the mafia scene, where bosses have been seen negotiating deals under the haze and low lights.

The Ruby Casino is also a hot spot for the upper echelon to shmooze. However, unbeknownst to most, in its upper office levels, a drug lab is incredibly active.

Faction: Rose Spinose Mafia (Thorned Roses Mafia)

Having been in the gilded cage that is Nocturnia for only a handful of years, the Thorned Roses Mafia has not had time to develop its reputation. However, they have marked their territory strongly, extorting the businesses and skimming off a protection fee tax from the residents. However, their main money-maker is certainly their illicit new drug that has started to gain popularity in Nocturnia.

The Thorned Rosses Mafia tries to sow discord wherever they go. However, they aren't against making a deal here or there. Blackmail is their bread and butter, and they try to get their hands on all the hot gossip in the city by sending their men on spy missions.

__________

Gyft: Aetheric Mental Manipulation

There are little ions that float through the air in Nocturnia. Completely harmless, except for one who has learned to manipulate them. Vincent has nicknamed this force ‘aether’, and can use it in a highly specialized way: hearing and manipulating thoughts, memories, and the brain.

Aetheric Hearing

Vincent can push his will into the aether around him, causing it to coalesce around one target. The target may begin to feel the air getting heavy, and may feel their hair standing up from the static electricity. Whatever the target would be thinking, he would be able to hear it in most cases. Occasionally there is static. He can only hear from up to twenty feet away.

(A 1d12 dice roll. If his is higher, he will be able to hear scraps of thoughts the victim is thinking. If his is lower, he will hear static. He can try again the next turn.)

Aetheric Dive

This is an assault on a mind. The target, willingly or not, has aetheric probs sunk into their mind. Vincent, from this position, is able to read recent memories, insert memories, and remove memories. All of his memory and thought manipulations lose their potency after a certain amount of days, meaning a victim may never feel the same, but they will begin to heal over time.

If he takes less time, his potency is less and the manipulation is easier to dispel and logically think out of. If he takes more time and puts more of his will into a manipulation, plus has repeat sessions, his manipulations will become more permanent. That's really the key: multiple sessions.

A byproduct of his interference is an incredibly high dose of serotonin and dopamine in the pleasure centers of the brain, making his presence in someone's mind highly addictive. After his influence, a victim will be in a high for a couple of hours, before they crash hard and crave his influence again.

(A 1d12 dice roll. If his is higher, he gets into the victim's mind successfully. If his is lower, he gets mental recoil and suffers for two posts, unable to retry until the two posts pass.)

Limitations and Weaknesses:

If a person is listening to music or is otherwise actively shielding their thoughts with surface nonsense thoughts, like what they want to eat or what groceries they need, he is unable to dive past that in Aetheric Hearing.

If a person electrocutes themselves or him continuously, this will disrupt his influence and he'll be kicked out of a mind (if he is in one). It will also make him unable to enter into or hear a mind.

He can only hear or manipulate one target at a time.

---

Updated districts!



Light Blue = Matthias FitzClarence
Magenta = Asterion Kairo
Dark Red = Isabella "Bella" Delacroix
Light Purple = Antonia Franchesca
Light Green = Adel Dawson
Indigo = Harriet Talon
Yellow = T. Eren Glyde-Savion
Dark Blue = Emily Newport
Red = Vincenzo “Vincent” Accardo

[ERode]

Damn, Nickel is fucked. No way to expand except through immediate violence.

[Estylwen]

Yeahh, that's a tough one. The left and center of the map is also pretty busy. And I forsee a heavy fight in Heavy Crossguard...

[Qia]

[ERode]

Oh, question though. Is there anything particular that happens if a district is split off from the others? Say with the 3 Poor Districts, with the middle one being taken out by someone else.

[Estylwen]

@ERode Good question! If someone were to 'build a road' right through someone else's districts, nothing would happen. The person with two split districts would still be able to function, they would just have to attack/claim other districts that are connected to the now split districts.

[Estylwen]

Ezra Blackheart

Ezra Blackheart

Boss of the Dark Aces Mafia | 35 | He/him | 6’0 | 130 lbs

Goal: To blow away the competition. Terrorize Nocturnia into submission. Show that through fear, Gyfts can be controlled. And if the world fears him, all the better.

Secrets: Is afraid of Gyfts getting out of hand. Is afraid of being bested by another's Gyft, or being unable to control a person's Gyft through fear. Is afraid of having their source of power taken away.

Fears: Being caught in one of their ‘corrective measures’. Being cornered and having to face the consequences of their actions.

History: Ezra's powers made him known as the ‘Midnight Man’ of the Dark Aces. Though he had a fearsome reputation, his mafia was small, and he was constantly shoved from one district to another like a pebble. The wars were too frequent and dangerous, and the men were too a-plenty.

That was when he was stopped in an alley by a man dressed in rags, holding a small vial. The raggedy man had a problem. Because Ezra knew the issue of people with power, specifically people who misused Gyfts. Ezra had been on the receiving end far too long, and the raggedy man could change all that. He only asked for one thing in return.

A way to put an end to Gyfts permenantly.

As time passed, and Ezra's strength grew, he quickly became the torturer and inciter instead of the victim. He was struck with inspiration. Yes, it was so clear. The answer. There was one way to be rid of the insects for good.

Oh, but they would hate it, though.

When the raggedy man heard of Ezra's plans, he was furious, and withdrew. But Ezra was a man on a mission. The product was ready. Now, he just had to time himself right…

Meanwhile, as he waits for the right time, he sees which insects are worth ‘saving’. This has caused him to listen to his victims a bit more instead of squeezing their ribcages until they snap…

__________

Alliance: Mafia

District: Unknown

Ezra has a place all to himself within Nocturnia that has yet to be discovered…

Faction: Dark Aces Mafia

The Dark Aces Mafia prefers dancing around a topic instead of killing someone head on. They have a habit of using homemade devices that ‘solve all their problems’. As their secondary income stream, they sell a lot of these ‘homemade devices’ throughout the city. They also smuggle them out for quick cash.

However, their main income comes from their unknown district, where they inaudible into cash. By this way, they're never strapped for cash. They usually have enough left over to bribe their way into bullying smaller or less-profitable mafias into doing their bidding.

__________

Gyft: Yume

Ezra's Gyft transcended from simple sleight of hand tricks to full on illusions. It's rumored that Ezra's very appearance is a big illusion, but that may just be hearsay. He is able to affect anyone, as many people as are around him. He can affect sight, smell, touch, hearing, and taste, as well as pain.

Ezra typically uses his Gyft to entrap someone during negotiations. If he feels the negotiation will go badly, he'll catch them in his Yume so they can't escape. Then he can toy with them as he pleases, unless they are atrong-willed enough to see through the illusion. He has used his Gyft during fights to temporarily blind his victims before mowing them down as well. Victims who are under his Yume influence become frozen still, unaware of themselves.

Limitations and Weaknesses:

He must roll a higher 1d12 to successfully entrap someone. If he rolls lower, he can try again the next turn. The victim can try to leave the Yume if they notice something out of place, like if their skin is melting or if they're vomiting crows. Then they can roll a 1d12, and if they are higher, they break free of the Yume.

He must see someone's eyes for the Gyft to work. If they are wearing shades, or refuse to meet his eyes, he is unable to attack them.

He can only simulate a few conversations at a time before he can no longer catch up, which can tip off his victim that they're in an illusion.

If he physically traumatizes them, they take -2 to be taken into the Yume, and -2 on their rolls to escape.

[ERode]

Est, two rounds into the RP:

[Estylwen]

Cyrus Levine

Cyrus Levine

28 | He/him | The Broker/Mafia

Description: Growing up as a street urchin with a bad habit of sticking his nose in business where it didn't belong, it took a couple beatings for his Gyft to manifest. Portals allowed him to eavesdrop more secretly, and he learned all kinds of dirty secrets from the gangsters and mafias on the block. As he grew older, his secrets went from a dollar a hint to $10,000.

He tried selling secrets to the Badges, but found they simply didn't see his worth. As in, they simply were unwilling to pay scum like him top dollar to get info when they would rather sacrifice a cop as a mole to do it.

So, instead, he has specialized in marketing himself to the mafias within the city. If anyone knows anything, he does, and he's the first to know. There's a reason people pay him well for his secrets; it could mean the difference between knowing your enemy is about to strike, and walking into it blind.

He doesn't always demand cash for his information. Sometimes he asks for information in return, or a favour.

Yes, he does offer a ferry service. However, he tries to make it as expensive as possible to discourage people from seeing him as nothing but a ridiculously handsome ferryman.

Gyft: Water-Sourced Portal Creation

By spilling a water bottle's worth on a flat surface, he is able to move anywhere within Nocturnia. He can jump through the reflective surface, ending up on the other side of town in a matter of seconds. The only restriction is the spill has to be big enough for a person to jump through. He merely has to visualize where he wants to go, and he'll jump into that location through a mirroring puddle of water.

Electricity disturbs it. And it just so happens that the wall surrounding Nocturnia is electrically charged on its outermost layers. So, that does mean he is just as much trapped in the city as anyone else.

[SporkoBug]

I mean he is a ridiculously handsome ferryman.

[Estylwen]

Isn't he though? :>

I have officially started working on the IC post. To ensure all the pieces fit together nicely, I am still looking for CSes from @Sanity43217, @Aeolian, @Jacobob The Kat. You still got time, I am just giving a dutiful heads up that we are three days away from Monday. If you need more time, let me know as soon as possible so I can adjust, as I want everyone to enjoy the first post and first round of Wealth distribution. :)

[Yankee]

Since the start of the RP is officially approaching, I'd love to start filling out some pre-existing relationships. I mentioned a little in my CS what Adel's general reputation is to people he's never directly dealt with, buuut I'm sure he's probably met a few of the other player characters at least once before. I'll gladly PM people that are interested in that so we can hash some things out, just let me know

[SporkoBug]

I feel like Webb could possibly be seen as a cryptid within Nocturnia, Harriet would likely be known for her Foster Care system.
She's labelled 'Evil', but that's just her methods ;)

[ERode]

I can see the vision.

[Estylwen]

@ERode This is actually perfect. What an excellent find. //adds it to the IC post.

[Estylwen]

Hailey Vagabond

Hailey Vagabond

23 | She/her | The Detonist/Unknown Alliance

Description: Leaflets litter the streets of Nocturnia. ‘Meet the future,’ ‘Breathe the silver air,’ ‘M.PHEAT’, and other such nonsense sprawling all in nice little rows on the letter-like leaflet. Flipping the leaflet to the other side and taking four unique ones, the scribbles on the back would form a map, and mark the spot for an auspicious occasion!

Hailey was at such a meeting. And the next one. And the one after that. She sang with the rest, and raised her fist in the air. She could see it, the vision, the future! No longer would the pigs control them, and those snobby bureaucrats, and those criminal selfish gobbers.

One day, at these auspicious, oh-so-secret gatherings, crates upon crates arrived, all filled with little bottles. She was given bottle after bottle, as long as she promised one thing. One small, tiny thing.

Of course, she promised earnestly, nodding her head vigorously. And, sipping her bottles, she set her eyes on the other districts within Nocturnia, ready to enact ‘M.PHEAT's will.

Gyft: Unknown.

[The Savant]

I might make a detective/cop character since those are lacking especially non-crooked ones.

[Qia]

Hmm I might as well depending how the rp goes with just one character to manage. Don't wanna bite off more than I can chew.